Lost
by Astral Fire-Bird
Summary: Natsu's suddenly losing everything. First his home, his nakama, his guild, and his will to live. Why was he even alive when everyone he cared and loved for not?
1. Wait

He promised himself that he would never cry again and get stronger so many times he'd lost count.

First, when he lost Igneel;

Next, when he lost Lisanna;

Last, when he saw Lucy - Lucy from the future - die right in front of him.

He told himself that he was strong, but another little voice in his mind told him otherwise.

He should've been able to save Lucy from Rogue.

He should've been able to find Igneel.

He should have been there to help Lisanna when she was taken by the Anima.

He was so weak! He was not strong. If he was, he would never lose anyone.

He told himself all this when he lost Happy.

* * *

A dark figure stood at the edge of a rock jutting out by the sea. Cold ocean waves sloshed up and soaked his feet and clothes, but he didn't care.

He kept waiting, waiting for his best friend to come out of the water.

He would come, right?

He wouldn't leave him.

Natsu folded his arms over his chest. He would wait for Happy to come back out of the water, no matter how long it took.

* * *

"Hey, Gray!" A certain blond-haired celestial mage ran towards the ice-make mage, waving her hand.

"Hey, Lucy."

"Have you seen Natsu around anywhere? I want to go on a mission! My rent's due next week!" Lucy cried, banging her fists on the table. "I don't want to be kicked out of my house!"

"No, I haven-" Gray began to say, but Lucy cut him off.

"Gray, you can go on a mission with me, then! You and Erza!"

"I can't, sorry. Juvia wants me to...go on a mission with her." Gray gulped, feeling the burning gaze of the Element Four mage on his back.

"Fine! I'll ask Erza, then." Lucy harrumphed and stomped off to the bar, where Erza was sitting at.

"Where is that flame brain, anyway?" Gray muttered, taking a sip out of his mug and doing his best to ignore Juvia's stalking.

* * *

"Why isn't Natsu here?" Lucy grumbled, staring out of the window in her bedroom, looking at the gloomy, rainy weather outside. Hugging, Plue tighter, she slid off her bed and headed to the kitchen.

Usually, when Lucy got home, she would find Happy and Natsu making a mess of her home, playing with her clothes, and wanting to read her story. Lucy definitely did not enjoy seeing Natsu wear her outfits and dance around, but it was somewhat comforting to know that everything was alright.

Today, however, she felt so lonely and small in her home.

Finishing her dinner, she sighed and got up, pocketing her keys and setting Plue on the ground.

She was going to go to Natsu's house and check if he was there. Three days without the usual fighting in the guild and Lucy's food still full in her fridge was definitely fishy.

Not that she minded _that_ much.

* * *

**Apologies for OOC moments and mistakes on magic. I love Fairy Tail but I can't seem to be able to remember everything about it.**

**Please leave a review, favorite, or follow if you enjoyed!**


	2. Found

Cold winds lashed at his back. The chilly sea water swirled beneath him and made desperate lunges to drag him in, only to fail, fall back, and then try again.

He was shaking, but he didn't notice.

He didn't care about anything but the return of his best friend. Happy was going to come up soon, he was sure of it. He would come up with a smile and his trademark "Aye!", and then they would go back to Fairy Tail, with the same feeling of triumph they felt after finishing a mission.

Happy would come back up. He was sure of it.

He would wait for him to rise out of the water, no matter how long it took.

* * *

Lucy frowned as she looked out the compartment window on the train, watching the rainy fields flash by.

No one spoke - they were all lost in their own thoughts. It was rather weird for Natsu to disappear from Magnolia overnight. Their only way of finding him was with Wendy's nose. The young sky dragonslayer volunteered "to help look for Natsu-san".

Lucy, Erza, and Gray didn't object - none of them had the strong sense of smell dragonslayers did, and it would be a sure hassle to have to ask every single one of the townsfolk if they'd seen a pink haired mage around.

Erza and Gray had mutely agreed on going along with Lucy on the search. The celestial spirit mage didn't mind at all - she hated to admit it, but she was never very good at battles, and having her friends around provided her with safety and comfort.

Lucy almost missed the moans and groans Natsu made. Sure, it was annoying, but it made everything seem normal. The absence of the motion-sick dragonslayer brought upon a gloomy atmosphere in the train compartment.

It was still raining outside when the five got off of the train. If possible, it was raining even harder; Lucy's umbrella flipped inside out and nearly flew away. Fortunately, Gray helped her steady herself, though his clothes had mysteriously disappeared again, and rain was running in rivulets down his back and chest.

Erza led them to the nearest inn, named "Redview", and asked for two rooms.

The man at the front desk shook his head, apologizing. "There's supposed to be a huge hurricane soon. Everyone's booked a room. There's only one available room left, I'm afraid."

Erza sighed. "Alright. We'll take it." She handed the man a few jewels for their stay, and took the key the man gave her. "Third floor, room twenty-seven on the right."

"Thank you. Let's go, everyone. We'll be sharing a room." She turned and began lugging her huge load of baggage up the stairs without much effort, causing Wendy, Gray, and Lucy to sweatdrop slightly as they followed her up.

The room was fairly large, with two couches and one queen-sized bed. It was only two rooms, though - the bathroom and the main room, which had a kitchen, table, and living room squeezed into it.

Erza immediately began digging through her luggage for her strawberry cake container, ready to take a break. Carla and Wendy walked around the room, examining and exploring the cupboards and closet. Gray seemed to have just noticed the absence of his clothing, and was searching the room thoroughly.

Lucy sat down on the bed and looked out of the window at the stormy weather outside. She never liked rainy weather - it was something that brought her mood down. Sunny weather was the best - it wasn't scorching or took cold and depressing.

Redview happened to be by the ocean - Lucy could see the boats docked shaking as the water rocked them roughly. The water level seemed to be a little high, as sailors and dock workers were standing waist-deep in the water.

The mage sighed and lay down on the bed, closing her eyes and thinking. Wendy had traced his scent here, but there was only the ocean that was by them - there was no way they could go on -

Lucy sat bolt upright and jumped off of the bed, startling Wendy, Gray, and Carla (who was chewing Gray off for stepping on her tail). Erza was busy unpacking her cake container.

Lucy scooped up her keys and grabbed her umbrella and parka. "I'm going out for a walk," she said, answering the questioning faces of her comrades. "I need some fresh air."

"Fresh air in the rain?" Gray asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Look, I'm not going to do anything bad. I just...need a walk outside." Lucy opened the door to their room. "I'll be back shortly."

"Be safe," Erza said without looking up from her cake. Gray stared at her as if burning a mental sentence into her. _How could you let her go outside into the beginnings of a hurricane while you stay inside and eat cake?_

He turned to Lucy. "I'll go with you," he offered.

"No, no, I need a little time alone." Lucy smiled and walked out of the door, hearing Wendy shout, "Come back safely, Lucy-san!"

The wind and rain seemed to have gotten stronger. Lucy's umbrella didn't do much anymore, so she closed it with some difficulty and pulled up her parka hood, struggling as she headed to the docks.

Lucy felt water seeping into her boots, feeling her feet get cold. It was best to hurry, she decided, and ran to the docks.

With a closer look, she realized all of the dock workers were shouting and pointing somewhere in the sea. Lucy shielded her face and squinted, but saw nothing through the howling wind and rain.

"Sir!" Lucy shouted, tapping on a man's shoulder. "Would you be as kind as to tell me what's going on?"

The man turned to look at her questioningly. Lucy sighed and bellowed, "WHAT'S GOING ON?"

The man made an "oh" face of realization, and he covered his face as well and yelled. "There's a young man out there. He's been standing on a rock out to sea for hours now, in the cold! We're yelling at him to come back, but he won't budge! No one dares to take a boat into the water, either - miss, where are you going?"

Lucy didn't wait for him to finish. She dashed to the nearest paddleboat and quickly untied it and let the water carry her to the dark shape in the sea.

The rock loomed out of nowhere. Lucy let out a sharp cry that was carried away by the wind and grabbed onto its rough surface. She felt the jagged edges of the rock cut into her palms painfully, but she didn't care.

When Lucy saw the familiar pink hair, hard to make out in the storm but still visible, she nearly cried with relief. "Natsu!" She screamed.

He didn't move.

Lucy leapt onto the rock and the paddleboat was immediately swept away, lost forever in the ocean. She pounded hard on Natsu's leg, screaming his name.

He seemed to finally realize that Lucy was there behind him. He turned, excruciatingly slowly, and saw her.

"Lu-" He began, but suddenly swooned and toppled over. Lucy screamed and grabbed his arms - his cold, cold arms - and managed to keep him from falling into the raging waters.

"Miss!" Came a shout behind Lucy, and she turned around in surprise, nearly letting go of Natsu.

The man she'd spoken to earlier was unsteadily standing on another paddleboat, two others paddling furiously behind him, doing their best to keep the boat from being swept away. He had his arms wide open, and Lucy nearly flung Natsu onto him and she leapt into the boat.

"Paddle! Paddle!" The man roared, and he seized his own set of oars and began furiously paddling. Lucy clutched Natsu close to her as they slowly made their way to the shore.

Another worker on land grabbed their boat and tied it up quickly. The man helped Lucy out of the boat and carried Natsu out. "Where do-"

"You're a brave young lady, miss!" Someone called out, and cheers erupted, followed by clapping that could've been mistaken for thunder. Lucy felt her cheeks flush and she smiled, despite the intense activity she'd just been through.

She turned and saw the man smiling. "You were very brave, miss. Now...is there somewhere I can help you take this lad?" He inclined his head towards the unconscious Natsu on his back.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Lucy entered their inn room dragging an unconscious Natsu. Gray shouted in surprise ("Where the hell did you find that flame bastard?"), Wendy rushed over to check on him, and Erza looked up, having just finished her third slice of cake.

Lucy decided to tell the story later. Gray slung the dragonslayer on his shoulders and tossed him on the bed rather roughly, frowning.

Wendy followed Lucy to the bed and examined him. Natsu's lips were tinged with blue and his skin was deathly white. He wasn't shivering and was completely still. _If he was that cold, why didn't he light a fire? _ Lucy wondered, frowning a bit.

"He has hypothermia," Wendy reported, looking a little scared. "Quite severe, actually. Please let me concentrate for a little bit." With that, she closed her eyes and magic power surged through her, forming a glowing light and holding it close to Natsu. After a few minutes, Wendy collapsed, panting. Carla ran over, eyes wide with worry and ready to chew off anyone who asked the little girl to continue healing. Nobody did, however, because Natsu looked much better - some color returned to his skin and he shivered a bit.

Lucy quickly wrapped him up with the quilt on the bed. He seemed to be alright, though his brow was knitted with worry and something close to anger.

"Where's Happy, then? Wasn't he supposed to be with Natsu?" Erza looked up at Lucy, frowning.

Lucy sighed and sat next to Natsu and ran a hand gently though his wet hair and told the story without taking her eyes off of her comrade and best friend. When she finished, the room was quiet, not including the ragged breaths of Natsu.

Wendy got up. "I'll go look for Happy," she volunteered. "He must be around here somewhere."

Carla began to protest that she needed rest, but Erza nodded. "Take Gray with you, then."

Gray let out a sigh and walked over to Wendy, for once in his life catching himself from stripping his clothes. The two, followed by a very annoyed Carla, left.

Erza muttered something about a shower and headed to the tiny bathroom. Lucy simply sat on the squishy mattress. She gently reached under the covers and squeezed his hand, which was warming up but still cold.

Lucy noticed his hand was fisted around something very tightly. Frowning yet again, she pulled his hand out and pried his fingers open to reveal -

A small package, wrapped in what seemed to be wet velvet. Lucy turned the box over and read a small tag on the back.

_"To Lucy"_

* * *

**Loooooong chapter, eh? I hope this will do because school has started and I'm already stuck with a project. Thank you to the three lovely people who followed the story - it makes me happy to know that it is actually not that bad!**

**_A bienot_****!**


	3. Remember

**Sorry for not updating in a while. It's only the first WEEK of school and I already had to do two pages worth of math problems, two English projects, two science projects, a science worksheet…and to make it worse, I have ice skating and swimming for two hours, and I tend to procrastinate…a lot.**

**Thank you to those who reviewed and followed. It really means a lot to me that my story is actually enjoyed, even if it's only a bit, by some people out there.**

* * *

Lucy was nodding off when she felt Natsu stir. She looked over at him anxiously as he opened his eyes.

The pink-haired dragonslayer stared at Lucy with a blank stare for such a long time that she was beginning to feel quite awkward. Then he suddenly blinked and rubbed his eyes. "Lucy?" he whispered.

"Yeah." Relief washed over the celestial spirit mage, and she smiled warmly at her partner. He seemed to be alright.

"I-" Natsu began, but Lucy cut him off angrily. "What were you thinking, standing out in the rain like that? And why do you have this?" She waved the package in front of his face.

Natsu's eyes widened and he made a move to snatch it, but Lucy held it out of his reach, and he was feeling too much like crap to get up. "Explain, Natsu, please."

Natsu blinked. What happened? Why didn't he and Happy…

A sudden rush of nausea swept over Natsu, and he dropped his hand, shaking.

"Natsu?" he heard Lucy call out to him. She'd noticed his face turn pale quite suddenly, and she was most definitely worried.

But Natsu wasn't listening to her. He was thinking about –

* * *

_"Natsuuu!"_

_The pink-haired dragonslayer groaned and rolled over on his bed. "I don't wanna get up right now, Happy. Give me a few more hours."_

_"Hours? Natsu, that's way too long! It's noon already!" He felt something tugging on his arm._

_"Hours aren't as long as minutes," Natsu grumbled. "They're not that long."_

_"Natsu, I think hours are longer than minutes, actually."_

_"Whatever." He heaved himself up and rubbed his eyes groggily. "Why'd you wake me up?"_

_"Look at this!" his blue furred feline friend shove something that seemed like a sheet of paper into his hands. Natsu looked down. It seemed to be a letter to someone, written neatly, and obviously taken good care of, for it was without wrinkles and folds._

_He brushed the tip of his nose to the paper and breathed in. "Lucy," he said immediately, recognizing the warm, vanilla-like scent. He began reading._

_Dear Mother,_

_I'm doing well recently! I found a good job yesterday; it was to wipe out a group of bandits for three hundred thousand jewels! True, some of the money went to pay for the three buildings Natsu destroyed, but we got most of it. I have more than enough for the rent and food money now!_

_I sprained my ankle on the mission, but it's nothing major. The healer said to just rest it for a while. Wendy said she could heal it, but as she also just got back on the mission, I told her that she should rest, since a sprained ankle isn't that important. It looks like I won't be walking anywhere far for a few days, but that gives me more time to write my novel and write letters to you!_

_Oh, and I know you remember, but my birthday's coming up! I hope Fairy Tail will know and celebrate my birthday – though it will, with no doubt, end up in a brawl! But that's alright, since that's what I love about my guild!_

_Though I wish that somehow I'd get this rare necklace – the Sapphire necklace! I've heard of it, it's somewhere near Clover, deep, deep in the water. It does exist, they've seen it. But it's guarded by this giant sea monster, and no one's gotten it before, I suppose it's impossible for me, haha! It does look very pretty, though, and I wish I could show it to you if I had it._

_I have to go, someone's knocking on my door. I doubt it's Natsu, he always sneaks in through the window and eats everything in my fridge!_

_Love, _

_Lucy_

_"Oh!" Natsu turned to Happy, his eyes shining. "I get it! We go get that sappy-whatever necklace and give it to Lucy as a birthday present!" He got up and lugged on his vest. "No sea monster can stand in our way! Let's go, Happy!"_

_"Aye, sir!"_

* * *

Natsu truly wanted to break into tears, but he refused to allow himself to do that. He shifted under the covers and turned away from Lucy.

The blonde girl frowned slightly. "Were you the ones that knocked on my door and stole the letter?" She asked quietly, but received no answer. Lucy sighed, and she lapsed into silence.

When there was no sound but the sound of the faucet running (Erza), Lucy could feel and hear the entire building shaking. She looked up at the window, but couldn't see anything through the watery haze.

Just then, the door to their inn room opened. Lucy turned and saw Gray, Wendy, and Carla; they all looked as if they'd jumped into a pool in their clothes. They were all shivering violently, and Wendy's face was a mask of distress.

As Lucy hurried to get towels ("Sorry, Erza, I'll close the door when I get a few towels"), Natsu turned to look who it was. Seeing the three, he let out an inaudible snort and faced the shaking window again.

When Lucy handed a towel to Wendy, the little girl suddenly cried, "Lucy-san, we can't find Happy anywhere!"

* * *

**Very short, yes, but I feel that what Natsu was doing needed its own chapter.**

**Thank you for reading, review, follow, or fav if you enjoyed!**


	4. Come

Lucy ran her fingers through her golden hair, letting a small sigh slip out as she traced the patterns in the wood countertop with her other hand. The silky strands drifted gently in front of her face, tickling her nose.

Mirajane glanced at Lucy, concern swimming in her big blue eyes. "Are you alright, Lucy?" The white-haired woman asked, pausing her tireless scrubbing of glassware for just a second. Lucy smiled wearily up at her, though it felt forced and unnatural. "I'm fine."

"I'll get you a glass of juice, then?" Lucy nodded tiredly and slumped down on the barstool, watching Mira disappear into the back room with a stack of cups.

It was quiet in the guild - too quiet. It'd been like that for the past week - conversations never rising above a murmur. The lack of the usual chair or table sailing at your face was unnerving. Even Juvia, who was usually stalking Gray from behind a wall, seemed to read the atmosphere and was sitting awkwardly by the ice mage, deep blue eyes flickering around the room.

The source was Natsu - ever since they came back, he'd been sitting by the waterway, staring into the water, a sad expression on his face. Lucy longed to reach out and comfort him, but there was something that held her back. She'd been angry at herself, and reminded herself that he was her friend, and friends didn't just sit back and watch the other suffer.

She still didn't do anything.

Lisanna had even talked to her with a grim expression on her face, unfitting for the young take over mage. Her words increased the guilt boiling in Lucy's stomach, but she didn't blame the girl - Lisanna was obviously concerned about Natsu.

"Lucy, if it's alright, could you please talk to him?" She whispered to Lucy. "I tried, but he's still so…" Lisanna struggled to find something to describe him, but gave up. Lucy did blame her for that, either - nothing these days were extremely easy.

Mira returned with the glass of juice and placed it gently down on the counter. "There you go, Lucy." She had a beaming smile on her face, but even for Mira, it looked forced.

So the celestial mage simply sat there, sipping the drink quietly as she watched the guild members leave, one by one, either on jobs or to go home. She was didn't even see Gray until he'd tapped her shoulder, causing Lucy to spill some of the drink over the rim of the polished cup. It left pale orange streaks down the side, and Lucy hurriedly grabbed a napkin to wipe it up, then turned to the ice make mage. "Hey, Gray."

"Hey." Gray looked a little downcast, but he held a paper out for Lucy to see. "I was thinking...our town - I mean, team - could go on a job. It's easy and has good pay."

The job was to eliminate a pair of shadowy-looking figures that always hung around a town, when they'd been spotted, the town had fallen into depression and despair. The reward was good, too. There were lots of zeros...Lucy nearly choked when she spotted the reward, and her eyes widened. "One million?"

"Yeah. It doesn't seem to bad, eh?" Gray grinned faintly. "I'll ask Erza."

It went without saying that Lucy would ask Natsu. She downed the last of her drink and got off the barstool, heading to where Natsu was sitting with his head on the table.

"Hi, Natsu!" She smiled cheerfully and tapped him on the shoulder.

No response.

"Job time?" Lucy tried again. Still no response.

"Natsu...get up, please. Stop moping around like a slug." She was about to add "cheer up", but decided that that wasn't the best of choices.

The pink-haired dragon slayer turned his head slowly to stare at Lucy, and his eyes lit up a little with surprise upon spotting her. "Lucy?"

"Yeah." Her smile became almost impossibly wide. "Want to go on a job? The reward is a whole million jewel! What do you say?"

What felt like eternity passed as Natsu stared at Lucy almost blankly, and her face muscles were beginning to hurt from holding her smile. His gaze make her cheeks flush pink, but she held still, waiting for an answer. And she wouldn't take no.

His answer nearly made her cry with happiness.

"Okay."

* * *

**Short and late, I know, sorry. I just hit a huge writer's block and it took forever to write just one and a half pages. Thanks for reading and thanks again to the people who follow, review, and faved!**


	5. We're Friends, Remember?

_Friends are not things you control. _

_They're not things that you can just toss away._

_Friends are ones that help you up when you fall down the path of life._

_They're the ones who help you push that heavy boulder up the hill in the Underworld._

_Friends are jewels in your life that you have to learn to cherish and keep, because you can never replace them._

* * *

_Squuueeaak. Squueak._

Lucy's breath came in misty little puffs as she stared out the window, using her cold fingers to draw little stars into the corners of the window pane. The train hit a bump, causing her to slide her fingers over the stars by accident, ruining them. Sighing, the celestial spirit mage dropped her hands back into her lap, sending a jolt of warmth through her as her fingers made contact with her warm thigh.

Natsu was on the other seat, moaning and groaning quietly. He looked horrible - but then again, he always did on transportation. Lucy allowed a small smile to slip over her face as she watched him turn ten shades paler when the train began to curve.

"Whar...Where Wendy? Oh!" Lucy jumped as she looked over at the sick dragon slayer. The poor boy had barely said anything in the past week, and the sounds of his voice was now like chocolate for Lucy's ears.

"Need...Wendy...Tr-Troia- urgh!" Natsu doubled over, groaning as he retched.

Gray, who had scooted so far away that he was smushed against the compartment door, replied in a muffled voice, "She's not here, flame-brain. You just have to deal with it."

Natsu did seem to be doing his best to keep the bile down his throat - but he couldn't, and he punched the window open and vomited out the window.

Lucy flinched away from the shattered glass. "Be more careful! We're going to have to pay for that!"

Natsu did not reply, only slumping against the window frame. Lucy had almost forgotten what had happened with his feline friend, and she quickly clamped her mouth shut. The train compartment, consisting of Lucy, Natsu, Gray, and a sleeping Erza, fell into an awkward, heavy silence, only broken here and there by Natsu's groans.

When the train finally stopped, Natsu jumped out of the window, not bothering to leave through the correct exit. Lucy frowned slightly and trampled after Gray and a groggy Erza, filing into the steady stream of people all pushing to leave the train, most looking annoyed, probably late for work or something of that sort.

It wasn't that Lucy didn't miss Happy or feel exuberant upon his passing - sure, it wasn't nice having the blue furball pass around rumors about Lucy and Loke, Lucy and Gray, Lucy and...Elfman (yes, it was ridiculous), and Lucy and Natsu - but Happy was a friend, and friends stuck up for each other and cared for the other. The blonde blushed a little at the last pairing as she gently stepped off of the train, not wanting the gravel to get into her sandals.

"What's the mission again, Erza?" Lucy asked the scarlet-haired mage as they headed to the nearest town.

Erza raised an eyebrow. "You forgot already?"

"Uh...yeah." Lucy didn't want to tell her that she wasn't listening.

The older girl nodded, taking it as an understandable answer. "We're to fish out a bunch of robbers that broke into a store last week...and they're still on the move. It doesn't seem like it'll be too hard, though. But the pay is good - 100,000 jewels - and so I'm guessing the town really wants these criminals to be rid of."

"Ah, I see," Lucy smiled faintly and continued staring straight ahead, barely even hearing the surprised squeak behind her.

Wendy was just walking by on the cobblestone paved, cheery streets, Carla floating beside her. "Lucy-san? Erza-san?" The tiny bluenette gasped. "What are you doing here? Is there a problem in the guild? Oh, no!" Anxiety began to creep into her big eyes.

Lucy laughed weakly. Even though the sound was a little forced, it was music to her own ears. "No, nothing's wrong. We're just doing a mission here. We're supposed to capture a bunch of pesky robbers."

Wendy's eyes widened as she blinked the tears away. "What? B-but we're doing that too!"

"It was a request from a cake shop owner," Carla supplied. "A robbery occurred last night, with the entire back room arsonized. It pays well, too, fifty thousand jewels. But a young girl like you is acting too brave! You're too young to be dealing with robbers on your own!" She turned to Wendy, who sighed and looked down. "I just wanted to be of some use to the guild…"

"Why don't you stay with us?" Erza suggested. "We're staying at the Redview Inn…" A shadow passed across her face suddenly, and Lucy could understand why. It was the place where…

"Hey, Wendy." Gray seemingly appeared out of nowhere, eyebrows raised at the girl. He scratched his bare chest, looking rather confused. "Why're you here?"

"Ah! Gray-san!" The little girl bowed hastily to the ice-make mage. "I am here with Carla because it just so happens that we have overlapping jobs! And Gray-san…" Wendy whispered the last part hesitantly.

Gray perked up, leaning closer. "What's wrong?"

"...your clothes, Gray-san."

"Ah!"

* * *

Natsu was staring out the window of their room when the rest of the team, plus Carla and Wendy, entered.

Lucy quietly made her way over to him in the small but spacious room, sitting down on the windowsill beside him. It struck her almost painfully to think how she would be so annoyed to have Happy and Natsu climb in uninvited through her window, usually resulting in a flying "Lucy Kick" to the face.

Oh, how she missed those days so. If only she had kept that letter in a safer place...maybe…

"What're you doing?" Lucy asked quietly, looking at the boy's faces, taking in every little line of detail on his face. He had such a serious expression on, so unlike when he used to just goof around and laugh, always bubbly and excited. Now the person sitting by Lucy was completely different - it was as if some hidden, mysterious part of him was revealed.

Sure, she'd seen him cry and rage and wail sometimes, but...he'd never been so serious. Natsu would take some things seriously sometimes, but this was taking it to another level. His onyx eyes, now a light shade of green in the flickering light of the room, were somewhere else. Lucy had not even seen some sort of realization in his gaze when she'd sat by him.

But now, when she'd spoken, he replied in a hollow voice, "Do you think Happy would be mad at me?"

Lucy was slightly taken aback at his question - glancing over her shoulder, she realized that everyone else had stopped unpacking and were staring at them, completely still and quiet, listening. But they resumed what they were doing, even Erza, when Lucy fixed a glare on them. The blonde had not meant it for the re-quip mage, but it was nice to just sit and talk with Natsu without being watched, even though the topic was so serious.

"He would," Lucy said in a firm voice, turning back to Natsu. He flinched, but Lucy continued, trying to hold back tears that were beginning to arise from, seemingly, her heart. He needed to face reality, to not always be depressed and unaccepting of how harsh life could be. Yes, he'd lost so much, but life was cruel like that, and you had to face it sometimes.

"Look at me, Natsu." The pinkette turned his head reluctantly, chewing the corners of his lips, eyes filled with anxiety. He was showing what he felt inside, and so Lucy pressed harder, because he was her friend and friends helped each other up, no matter how many times they fell down. If Natsu was going to suffer, then Lucy was, too. She'd felt it from the moment they met - there was something that felt like a pair of ghostly hands, typing up the severed strings of her heart and connecting it to another severed one.

"Happy...he-" Lucy swallowed, feeling the painful sting of tears behind her eyes. "He would never want his best friend to suffer just because of something like that. Do you think Happy would be smiling to see you moping around every day? Neglecting to take care of himself? Not being...not being _yourself_?"

At this, Lucy broke down, warm tears rolling down her cheeks and blurring her vision. "Would you be so burdened as to forget that you have other friends? Friends who will support you and hold you when you hurt inside? Friends who love you and share your feelings, no matter how evil or horrible they are? Friends are for helping each other stay on the path and to pick each other up? Didn't you teach me that? Heck, you taught everyone about the importance of friendship! You're always supporting us, winning for us, laughing for us...we're going to help you now, and we're going to continue down this path together."

Lucy's mouth had spoken on its own accord, and before she knew it, she was holding Natsu in her arms, who had buried his face into her shoulder. He was burning hot on her skin, tears almost like molten metal, but she didn't mind - she cried there with him. His sobs and breathing were loud in her ears, but Lucy held on ever tighter, burying her nose into his scarf and breathing in that strong smell of campfire smoke and ashes. She liked the scent now - it was somehow comforting to her, and it made her feel that everything would be alright.

And they cried, rocking together. Wendy was tearing up, but she was smiling a little as she sniffled. Carla looked away with a tiny hmpf, saying that men were always so strange. Gray was leaning on the wall, eyes smiling.

Erza rushed forward, startling the heck out of the sky dragon slayer and the ice make mage. Her eyes were glistening with tears, and she banged their heads on her iron breastplate. "Lucy!" she sobbed. "I never knew you were such a motivational speech-person!"

She sniffed, and turned to smile down at the fire dragon slayer. "But she's right, Natsu. We're your friends, and we'll support you and help you."

And for what felt like the first time in ages, Natsu really, truly meant the smile that graced his features as he laughed and cried with his friends.

He'd always been looking out for them, but this time...it was comforting to just lean back for a moment in his precious friends' arms, and smile with them.

* * *

**I sure had fun writing this chapter! I think I'll write stuff longer now, because when I look at my extremely short chapters, I cringe. **

**Hope this unusual length makes up for the lateness. Reviews, faves, and follows are so, very much appreciated! :)**


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